Article written by Lauren Johnston.
Everyone loves some good merch, and if you don’t? Well, then I guess there’s something not right with you. Merch is a big thing, especially in music. I personally don’t know anyone that hasn’t got at least one piece of merch from their favorite band. I know I have more than one piece of clothing, that’s for sure.
Merch is a beautiful thing in many different ways. For instance, it’s not only clothes; it can be jewelry, shoes, rubber wrist bands, stickers for all types of crap, tote bags and/or posters. It can literally be anything you can whack a logo on. Merchandising can also bring in new listeners and fans that haven’t heard of a particular band. Think about it, if you were in a band and you sold 10 shirts, that’s 10 pieces of your band being promoted for free. That, and if someone likes the look of it, they look up your band and dig the music. You have just earnt more money from them listening to a few songs.
If the merch looks cool and you can sell it for cheap, then it's more than likely going to sell like hot cakes. Not only that, but it can bring financial security to a band. If any band is going to succeed, it’s going to need an income. Yes, there are other ways of bringing an income to a band, but have you ever heard of a band that doesn’t have merch? Not having merch is simply something that doesn’t exist. In saying that though, begs the question: Is all merchandising good?
Throughout the years, there have been many hits and misses with bands producing merch. Hits and misses come with anything in life, but trust me, there has been some merch that’s been produced that has created some hella beef with people in the community. One example of this, is Cradle of Filth's infamous ‘Jesus is a c**t’ tee-shirt. This shirt has caused 22 years of arrests and bans, and not to mention 22 years of public outrage. If you are thinking, “How is this a thing?” Well, Cradle of Filth's front man, Dani Filth, started this all from a joke. A literal meme. Long story short, they were going on tour, and the old shirt – which was Dani’s, all done-up in black metal-core get-up with the caption ‘The black Goddess Rises’ – just didn’t cut it anymore. Dani doesn’t know who exactly muttered this phrase, but Dani asked, “Shall we?” and they all agreed.
Many could argue that not all merchandising is good, but in the end, it makes people look and listen to the band even if it is just one song. Yes, people are going to throw a sh*t fit if they don’t like something; metal especially is not everyone’s cup of tea. The point of merchandising and selling merch is to make money and get people to notice your band, and if that means writing ‘Jesus is a c**t’ on the back of a shirt, then you got to do what you got to do.
Merchandising these days is touchy. You don’t even have to be in a band, and you can still get in trouble for making just about everything. For example, the Swedish company H&M came under attack when they tried to sell feather headdresses for a summer festival in Canada as people were saying it was, and I quote, ‘A tantamount to cultural mockery’, as well as Victoria Secret model, Karlie Koss, when she wore a Native American inspired feather headdress.
Even Nike got targeted for a design on women's' pants that closely resembled a traditional Samoan tattoo reserved for men; the Pacific community found it exploitative and offensive. Nike then started putting out another product. Hoping to appeal to Ireland's national pride on St. Patrick's Day, Nike produced a line of black and tan sneakers intended to refer to the popular drink made from mixing stout and lager. Unfortunately, "Black & Tans" is also the name of a violent British paramilitary group that targeted civilians during the Irish Revolution. It seems the sportswear brand needed a damn history lesson.
Not only Nike, but JC Penney, has found itself at the center of controversies numerous times over the past few years. For instance, a girls' shirt that read, "I'm too pretty to do HOMEWORK, so my brother has to do it for me." Mommy bloggers were in an uproar, over the top. Now, it’s one thing to upset mums on the internet, but the next company thought why don’t we just piss all mums off in general. So naturally, parents were less than pleased with the messages The Children's Place was sending to girls with shirts. Probably the most offensive of the bunch (not really, the Jesus one was pretty bad) which has since been discontinued, listed "My Best Subjects" and included "Shopping," "Music," "Dancing," and "Math," with boxes checked next to all subjects except "Math." At the bottom of the shirt it said, "(Well, nobody's perfect)." Parents bristled at the shirt's implied sexist message.
Realistically, if your merch design isn’t just a simple tee with your band name on it, then there’s a good possibility that you are going to offend someone. It’s your band, and you get to choose what you want to create and have your band known for. Not only that, but without merch, that’s one less income for the band and less of a chance of making it big.
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